PRINCIPAL and chief executive David Jones did not thrive during his school days but found his feet in further education and now leads the eighth biggest college in the UK.

David, 51, was brought up in rural Ceredigion and was instilled with a strong work ethic – doing schoolwork while also working to support his mum after the death of his father when he was 12.

But at school he described his performance as “average” and only truly shone when he left for college at 16 to take up electrical engineering. After obtaining a BSc in Electronic Engineering from the University of Glamorgan he qualified as a teacher at Cardiff University before completing an MBA at the internationally acclaimed Warwick University Business School.

He started in industry, initially manufacturing military sonar systems and then moving into computer memory media and microelectronics.

But when an opportunity came to return to college as a lecturer he jumped at the chance and never looked back. He now leads Coleg Cambria, formed on August 1 this year, following three mergers over four years involving Deeside, the Welsh College of Horticulture, Llysfasi and Yale. Cambria employs almost 1,700 staff, providing courses for over 25,000 learners, and with the ambition to keep providing the education and skills to drive the economy.

Talking about his background, he said: “When my dad died so suddenly I had to grow up quickly. My mother was a part-time cleaner and we lived in a small council estate, so I took over the vegetable garden, worked on local farms, and my first “proper” job was selling honey ice cream on the quay in Aberaeron.

“This work ethic is important and I see it in colleagues and in all the really successful business people out there. Most people who are successful have got talent, but they all work so hard too, and take nothing for granted.

“I was certainly not top of the class at school, although I did okay. College did suit me better; most of us operate better in an environment where we are treated as adults, have a bit more freedom to get on with things, and the focus on a narrower group of subjects or a vocation that is a real interest. At that stage I wanted to be an electrician and did an entrance test with the EITB. I got all the questions right, so they told me to aim higher.

“College valued and looked after me and gave me confidence at the age of 16, from being average in school to being the best in my class and to think ‘I can do things, I am as good as other people’. This is what we do at Coleg Cambria every day.”

After completing his college and degree courses he went into industry but was tempted back to education.

He said: “FE awoke an ambition within me, an impatientness and desire to do really well. At the time I never felt I was going to be very successful as an engineer – my practical skills were too poor to be honest. I felt my future was in education and training, and in leadership. My experience in college had been so good, and although I never left thinking ‘I want to work in FE’, I did have a real appreciation and affection for the sector.

“When it did and I got get my first job as a lecturer at what is now Cardiff Metropolitan University, I never thought ‘I want to be Principal of the college’. To be honest I have never really been like that. Some people who think they know me might be surprised by this. My approach has always been to try and do what I am doing now really well, not look too far ahead, but to always be open minded about future opportunities.”

David worked at Coleg Ceredigion and Coleg Powys, prior to joining Deeside College in 1999.Š

He said: “Our plan at Cambria is to strengthen our position as a leading UK college, serving all the learners and communities in our region, working with local and UK businesses, strengthening our Welsh dimension and establishing an international reputation too. We need to be ambitious – Wales needs us to be ambitious. Being a large college, there is a huge responsibility. If we get things right there will be a massive positive impact. The flip side, which is not going to happen of course, would be very negative. No pressure then!”

He said Cambria’s success would be measured by the progression of students into jobs, apprenticeships and university. David said: “It’s about jobs, the economy and society – the end game is not the qualification or the certificate. We are the means not the end at Cambria.

“If students leave us and don’t immediately or ultimately progress to employment, we need to review what we’re doing. We need to continue to strengthen links with employers and universities, and also to give our students the tools to become the entrepreneurs of the near future.

“This college is crucial, and if we don’t deliver to a high standard then there will be a fundamental service that won’t be good enough in the region.

“That is certainly not the case at present, as an example, our work with apprentices across Yale and Deeside has been inspected recently, achieving the two best inspection reports from Estyn in Wales.”

Cambria is also the only college in Wales to join the elite 157 group, a group of 30 of the UK's largest and highest performing colleges.

In his position as Chair of the Deeside Enterprise Zone, David also appreciates the importance to business of providing the skills needed for economic growth.

He added: “There is massive competition to attract and keep employers in the area.

“A skilled employment base and an excellent local education infrastructure are crucial, and that’s what we’re about at Cambria.”